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Home , River Maun, River Trent, South Muskham

Fisheries Annual Report 2017 to 2018 East

We are the Environment Agency. We protect and improve the environment. We help people and wildlife adapt to climate change and reduce its impacts, including flooding, drought, sea level rise and coastal erosion. We improve the quality of our water, land and air by tackling pollution. We work with businesses to help them comply with environmental regulations. A healthy and diverse environment enhances people's lives and contributes to economic growth. We can’t do this alone. We work as part of the Defra group (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), with the rest of government, local councils, businesses, civil society groups and local communities to create a better place for people and wildlife.

Published by: © Environment Agency 2018 Environment Agency All rights reserved. This document may be Horizon House, Deanery Road, reproduced with prior permission of the Bristol BS1 5AH Environment Agency. www.gov.uk/environment-agency Further copies of this report are available from our publications catalogue: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications or our National Customer Contact Centre: 03708 506 506 Email: enquiries@environment- agency.gov.uk

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Foreword

In each of our 14 areas we carry out a wide range of work in order to protect and improve fisheries. Below are some examples of what has been happening in the (EMD) Area, much of which benefits fisheries from funding from both fishing licence fees and other sources. For a wider view of the work we do across the country for fisheries please see the national Annual Fisheries Report.

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Contents

Fisheries Annual Report 2017 to 2018 East Midlands ...... 1 Foreword ...... 3 Contents ...... 4 1. Fishing Licence Checks and Prosecutions ...... 5 2. Illegal Fishing ...... 5 3. Incident Management ...... 7 4. Fisheries Improvements ...... 10 5. Monitoring ...... 15

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1. Fishing licence checks and prosecutions

During the 2017 to 2018 financial year (the last complete year of data) a total of 64,702 fishing licence checks were carried out by our fisheries enforcement staff across the country. Our checks show us that evasion was relatively low with a national average of 3.97%. Below are details from EMD:

2. Illegal fishing

Illegal fishing remains a threat to game and coarse fish stocks in and the fisheries they support. The Environment Agency uses a combination of covert and overt patrols to deter and detect poachers, as well as responding to reports of illegal fishing where there is a credible threat to fish stocks and where we have a realistic chance of apprehending the alleged offenders. We cannot respond to every report of illegal fishing so we must prioritise where we focus our efforts. For EMD:

Five guilty of illegally fishing in Fishing without a licence landed five Nottinghamshire anglers with penalties totalling more than £3,500. Shaun Ryan of Bentinck Close in Newark, Teresa Cotton of Bramerton Road in , Sean Bosworth of Hanley Avenue in Nottingham, Robert White of Melbourne Road in Nottingham, and Miodrag Katin of Woolmer Road in Nottingham were all found guilty under Section 27(1)(a) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.

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All were reeled in by our water bailiffs who were conducting their regular patrols, licence checking and protect the sport for those who do follow the rules. The five offenders were tried on Wednesday 1 February at Nottingham Magistrates Court. Fines totalled £2,750 but with costs and victim surcharges included, the five paid out penalties totalling £3,661.99.

Nottingham Magistrates Court

Illegal fishing Our Fisheries Enforcement team attended a seminar of the Protecting Club Fishing Water and Wildlife Group (PCFWW) in . It was an opportunity to showcase our work to guests from over 30 angling clubs. A local solicitor also attended who advised clubs on the often misunderstood topic of prosecutions for theft of fishing - rights. The meeting was very useful in explaining such complex issues.

Protecting club fishing seminar

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Partnership success A man from has been successfully prosecuted after being found illegally fishing by police. They were undertaking an independent fisheries patrol after receiving training on tackling fisheries crime by our Fisheries Enforcement team. Police now accept the importance of tackling these issues and how they link to other rural crimes. This is another great example of the success of the team’s efforts to work with police to tackle rural crime. These training sessions have resulted in a big increase in the number of independent police fisheries patrols. The police can now prosecute offences themselves or pass it to our officers for action via Enforcement Once.

3. Incident management

Responding to fish kills and other environmental incidents is a vitally important part of what we do. We respond to thousands of substantiated incidents annually. Members of the public report incidents through our Incident Hotline (0800 80 70 60) and we are able to respond 365 days a year and on any day, at any time, providing an effective and proportionate response. For EMD: All incidents are categorised according to potential and actual impact on the environment and the impact on our resources. We can then break this figure down into categories of incident as shown below. Category 1 is the most serious and Category 4 is a reported incident with no impact.

East Midlands Incident Management Catorgories

1 2 3 4

6% 17%

17%

60%

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Nottinghamshire gets oxygen boost In June we were asked for help by an angling club when fish were seen gasping at the surface of their lake. Unfortunately some fish had already died and oxygen levels were down to 2.5%. We brought our Oxyjet equipment to site and treated the lake to improve oxygen levels, which helped save the remaining fish. The problem had been caused by severe algal dieback, our fisheries team can offer advice on your fishery to help prevent this.

Incident response

Leicestershire fish rescue Fisheries staff were called to a small drain in in September when water levels were extremely low and the fish were at risk. We were able to move a number of mixed coarse fish to safety downstream. If you see a problem call our incident hotline on 0800 807060.

Fish rescue

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Helping hand for a popular fishery Fisheries staff were called when water levels dropped in one lake at Newlands Ponds near , Nottinghamshire. We helped the angling club move 400lbs of carp and silver fish to safety in an adjacent pond.

Our officers helping save fish

Burbage Brook fish recue Fisheries staff undertook a fish rescue on the Burbage Brook in , Derbyshire after the water disappeared underground. The brook flows over limestone and this problem has happened before, all due to the geology. Unfortunately some fish died with the sudden loss of water, however we were able to save 223 fish and relocate then downstream.

Fish rescue

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4. Fisheries improvements

The boxes below highlight some projects we have delivered followed by the table below listing many of our environmental improvement projects that have helped to deliver benefits to fisheries; many in conjunction with our partners. We have included the time of our fisheries officers in the funding considerations for the projects as their posts are funded by fishing licence income. Considerable amounts of their time and expertise has been provided for the projects. Many projects have also received funding from government or from other parts of the Environment Agency e.g. flooding, the Environment Programme or Water Framework Directive budgets however where contribution has included fishing licence income, this has been noted.

£198,500 + £33,500 = £231,850

EA Funding Match Funding Fisheries Improvement

In 2017 to 2018 East Midlands installed 2 fish passes and opened up 7.5 km of habitat or spawning ground for fish.

Project Title Outcome or Partners EA Match Total benefit Funding funding Cost (£) (£) Holme Sluices 60Km of the Trent Nottingham £163,000 £163,000 Fish Pass opened up for all City Council outline design species fish passage - including £37,000 Environment Programme and £66,000 Flood & Coastal Risk management funding Grindleford 550m of the River Farmer £1,100 £15,000 £16,100 Buffer Strip Derwent protected Landowner and improved. EA funding provided Tenant by Environment farmer Programme Derwent Club Westhouses Feasibility and Landowner £13,800 £13,800 weir removal detailed design for study weir removal on a tributary of the in 10 of 18

Derbyshire - EA funding from the Environment Programme Trent Barbel Desktop study to Trent £4,800 £8,000 £12,800 study produce a report anglers and Citizen on the status of angling Science recruitment in the clubs – angler and catch angler catch returns recording and scale sampling South Habitat creation to Nottingham £2,600 £4,600 £7,200 Muskham improve poor Piscatorial habitat habitat in a lake by Society improvements introducing marginal plants and floating reedbeds Thorne Delves Installation of Thorne £1,200 £1,300 £2,500 ponds floating floating reedbeds community reedbeds to protect and angling improve fish populations Tagging £1,500 £1,500 trout tagging equipment to District project monitor the reintroduction of Council Maun Trout from Thoresby downstream to an isolated upstream Estate reach River Maun Habitat volunteer £10,000 £3,250 £13,250 and Poulter improvements groups and Volunte habitat along the river landowners er days improvement delivered by the project Wild Trout Trust working with volunteer groups and landowners Roughs Pond Install marginal Stanton £500 £1,200 £1,700 habitat plants to protect Fishing Club improvements and improve fish populations Total £198,500 £33,350 £231,850

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Salmon in the Ecclesbourne in Derbyshire, a first since Salmon population spreading in Derbyshire due to improved and removal of barriers In autumn 2017 we found salmon in the , a first since the Industrial Revolution Atlantic salmon have been discovered on the River Ecclesbourne, a tributary of the River Derwent, Derbyshire for the first time since the Industrial Revolution following work carried out by the Environment Agency and its partners. The discovery comes following the installation of fish passes on the River Derwent by the Environment Agency and Trent Rivers Trust which have helped to improve fish migration and allow the salmon to move upstream through the river. Salmon is an important species and after two decades of work to improve water quality and the habitat for fish in the Trent catchment area, we now have a recovering population of salmon. Poor water quality and weirs on the River Derwent constructed in the Industrial Revolution acted as a barrier to fish migration and left them stuck in unsuitable water. Weirs not only stop fish migrating, but trap fish spawning gravels and create ponded areas upstream which are not suitable for riverine fish species. Over the past seven years, the Environment Agency has worked with partners and developers on the construction of fish passes on a number of weirs in the area. These passes have enabled adult salmon to swim freely further up the river, where they have access to more varied habitats providing suitable conditions to spawn, shelter and feed. Thanks to the work we have carried out with our partners, we are, for the first time ever, witnessing a recovering population of salmon on the River Derwent and other local rivers which is an excellent result. Last year we saw a record number of sightings of adult salmon, including a salmon found at weir for the first time in over 100 years. We are committed to ensuring that salmon numbers continue to increase within the catchment by working with partners to enable fish passage on the remaining barriers and to improve the quality of river habitats for this fascinating species. If salmon are thriving we know the river is doing well for all fish and wildlife.

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River Maun and Poulter habitat improvements The project has worked with Welbeck and Thoresby Estates to assess sections of their rivers and provided options for tackling the habitat issues (a key reason for the rivers WFD failure). Habitat work was undertaken with Thorseby (Maun & Meden) and Welbeck Estates (Poulter) which saw their estates team learn “hands-on” river restoration techniques from the Wild Trout Trust. These demonstration days have given the estate teams confidence in delivering further habitat works; the demonstration days were also attend by several other members of the Sherwood Catchment Partnership.

Before After

South Muskham habitat improvements The fishery has a 27 acre lake on site which has had extensive improvement redefining the route of the margins, adding and additional angling pegs, however the habitat was poor with very little spawning habitat or cover for fish. Last year 12 floating cages (2x3m) were sourced from the local council who no longer needed them. The club have managed to plant and install 6 of these floating cages already, which have proved very successful. This project planted and installed the remaining floating cages and placed planted coir rolls around the margins of the lake.

South Muskham Lake

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Grindleford buffer strip This project created 550 of buffer strip along the river Derwent between Grindleford and Hathersage. A post and wire fence has been erected to fence out sheep with new watering points created to keep livestock out of the river and to allow a grassy buffer strip to intercept sediment and reduce erosion, benefiting fish and wildlife.

Before: A fter:

Learn to fish day Protecting Club Fishing, Water and Wildlife organised a “Learn to fish 2017” day at Press Manor Fishing in the on Sunday 6th August. It was a well- attended event with the aim of encouraging non- anglers and children to become involved. The Environment Agency Learn to fish supported the event by members of Fisheries Enforcement, FBG, A&R and S&C teams attending. Fisheries management, the control of fish parasites, river ecology, fishing law, what lives in your river and biosecurity were just some of the topics discussed with the public and angling community. The live invertebrates were a particular hit with the children. It was great to see so many teams working together to educate the public about the fantastic work we do protecting the aquatic environment.

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5. Monitoring

Monitoring of all fish species is vital to our assessment of the condition of the environment. Surveys of fish populations, including coarse fish, are used to assess the status of stocks and contribute to the overall assessment of ecological status of a water body. In EMD:

Monitoring In 2017 a total of 49 fish surveys were undertaken in the East Midlands on waterbodies including the , Idle, Trent, Derwent and Devon. These comprised of 28 electric fishing surveys, 12 fry net surveys, 4 Aris investigations and 5 nights of hydroacoustic surveys. We caught a total of 28,566 fish, covering 26 species with sizes ranging from 11mm minnow found on the Derwent to a 676mm barbel from the Meden. Minnow was the most numerous species and chub was the most widespread being found at 34 sites. Our fish count data is now available online here

Surveying fish

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We produced the following reports: Idle Catchment Report Derbyshire Derwent Catchment Report.

Trent Catchment Report Soar Catchment Report

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Monitoring in progress

You can look at our Catchment Data Explorer for more information. Our fish count data is now available online here For information on what we are doing across the rest of the country read our other Area reports

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Would you like to find out more about us or your environment? Then call us on 03708 506 506 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm) email [email protected] or visit our website www.gov.uk/environment-agency incident hotline 0800 807060 (24 hours) floodline 0345 988 1188 (24 hours) Find out about call charges (www.gov.uk/call-charges) Environment first: Are you viewing this onscreen? Please consider the environment and only print if absolutely necessary. If you are reading a paper copy, please don’t forget to reuse and recycle.

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